1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cable-equipped connector having lock screws that prevent connectors from separating when connected to each other.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, a cable-equipped connector 23 having lock screws like that shown in FIGS. 7A-7C is known. The cable-equipped connector 23 is such that a cable 24 for electrical signals is connected to a rear of the connector body 23c and a connecting portion of the cable 24 is covered by a synthetic resin housing 23a, on which a mounting block 25 that projects laterally is integrally formed with the housing 23a. Through-holes 25a are provided in both lateral ends of the mounting block 25, and lock screws 26 engage the through-holes 25a so as to be rotatable therewithin.
As shown in FIGS. 8A-8C, another connector 20 to which the above cable-equipped connector 23 is connected has screw nuts 21 provided on lateral side portions 20a, 20b. The screw nuts 21, as shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, are inserted into through-holes 22a provided on a panel 22 or a side of a device housing and fixedly mounted thereat. In other words, the connector 20 is fixedly attached to the panel 22, which is a portion of the housing of an electronic device, and further, is soldered to and mounted on a printed circuit board, with the screw nuts 21 passed through the through-holes 22a in the panel 22 and fixedly mounted, female screw parts thereof being provided on the outside of the device panel.
The cable-equipped connector 23, as shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, has male connector portions 23b inserted into and engaging female connector portions 20c of the connector 20, and has male portions of the lock screws 26 screwed into female screw portions of the screw nuts 21. Thus, both connectors 20 and 23 are mated and electrically connected, and at the same time the lock screws 26 ensure that the connectors do not separate easily even when a tensile force is exerted on the cable 24 (see, for example, JP-A-09-190861).
However, because the lock screws 26 of such conventional cable-equipped connector 23 are provided on the mounting block 25 formed as a single integrated unit with the synthetic resin housing 23a that covers the connecting portion, once the direction of engagement of the connector 20 and the cable-equipped connector 23 is decided, the positions and orientations of the lock screws 26 and the screw nuts 21 as well as the through-holes 22a are automatically decided as well.
Therefore, ordinarily, the connector 20 is provided so as to be mounted horizontally on the panel or the like of the device, and thus the direction in which the screw nuts 21 and the lock screws 36 are mounted is fixed horizontally, such that other connectors or the like cannot be installed in dense formation on either side of the connector 20. In such a case, for example, even if space above and below the connector 20 is open, ordinarily a plurality of connectors or the like are arrayed horizontally, and such space cannot be utilized effectively.